Tag: Oregon women’s basketball

How former Oregon Ducks performed in WNBA Week 6 action

A look at how Oregon Ducks alumni Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally, and Ruthy Hebard performed the last week of June in the WNBA season.

We are almost exactly one week out from the WNBA All-Star Game festivities, which will take place in Chicago on July 10.

Former Oregon Ducks legend Sabrina Ionescu will be in attendance, representing the New York Liberty after a ridiculously strong start to the season – notably in the early part of June when she went on a torrid, record-breaking stretch.

While she’s cooled down in recent games, she remains one of the most fun to watch and all-around talented performers in the league, and should find herself playing in the midsummer classic for years to come.

She won’t be joined by any other Oregon alumni this year, with Satou Sabally nursing injuries and missing the early part of the year while still overseas. Sabally is healthy with Dallas now, however, and she provides a big boost to this Wings squad.

Ruthy Hebard remains in a reserve role for the defending champion Chicago Sky, while Nyara Sabally remains out for the year with an injury after going No. 6 overall in the 2022 WNBA draft.

Here is a look at how the last week has gone for each Duck in the WNBA:

Twitter reacts to Sabrina Ionescu’s historic performance for New York Liberty

New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu went nuts against Minnesota on Tuesday, and Twitter had plenty of thoughts.

Former Oregon Ducks guard Sabrina Ionescu had perhaps the best game of her professional career on Tuesday evening for the New York Liberty in their win over the Minnesota Lynx.

The former No. 1 overall pick dropped 26 points with eight rebounds and eight assists, on incredible 10-11 shooting from the field.

She is the only player in WNBA history to record 25 or more points, eight or more assists, and eight or more rebounds in a game while shooting 90% or more from the field – and she reached those numbers during the third quarter.

Ionescu earned her ridiculous field goal percentage, draining a half court shot at the halftime buzzer and hitting a handful of other deep three pointers in an all-around dominant performance that has never been seen before in the WNBA.

Ionescu’s performance caught the attention of seemingly everyone on Twitter during an off-day for the NBA Finals, and once again she is proving to be a catalyst for the rising interest in the WNBA around the country as the face of the team in the biggest media market in the USA.

Here are a few of the best of the best from Twitter during and after Sabrina’s dominant night:

Sabrina Ionescu fills the stat sheet in New York Liberty’s season-opener

Sabrina Ionescu dropped 25 points and dished out six assists in the New York Liberty’s season opener on Saturday.

Former Oregon Ducks star Sabrina Ionescu lived up to the billing as the No. 1 overall pick, dropping 25 points and dishing out six assists for the New York Liberty in their home opener, an 81-79 victory over the Connecticut Sun.

“It’s a great win for us at home,” Ionescu said. “We had a great crowd. Super excited to be able to start the season off like that.”

Ionescu was outstanding for New York on Saturday, scoring or assisting on 41 of the Liberty’s points, while shooting 10-for-18 from the field and 3-6 from deep.

“I think it was really just the patience and poise of our offense that led a lot of us to easy shots and shots that we normally make, and so I think that’s what we have to continue to do,” Ionescu said.

She now has four career games with 25 or more points and five or more assists, the third-most in Liberty history.

The Oregon legend got off to a rough start in her pro career, only playing three games as a rookie before missing the rest of the season with an injury. She rebounded to post strong numbers in 2021, and now looks like she is fully ready for her breakout into a legit superstar.

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A look at which Oregon stars are on rosters as WNBA season tips off

Four former Oregon Ducks will begin the season on WNBA rosters, although only three will suit up in game action this season.

The WNBA season tips off on Friday evening, as the Chicago Sky look to defend their surprise championship run from last season.

The WNBA has more eyes on it than ever before, in part because of the rising interest in women’s college basketball – which has fans clamoring to see how their favorite players perform at the next level.

Unfortunately limited roster spaces, the lack of minor league developmental league, and a small number of teams has created a situation where a large chunk of players drafted don’t end up sticking onto a roster once the season begins.

This has created many very loud calls for expansion by fans, players, former players, media analysts, and coaches as the league looks to capitalize on the growing interest.

For the Oregon Ducks, while the number could (should) be higher, they are going to be represented by four different athletes during the WNBA season – although only three are going to suit up this year.

Here is a look at those four athletes, what team they play for, and what their role might look like during the 2022 campaign:

Report: Former 5-star recruit Taylor Bigby becomes the latest Duck to enter the portal

Taylor Bigby is a former 5-star recruit who ranked as the No. 24 player in the 2021 class. She has reportedly entered the transfer portal.

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The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team is losing players quicker than contestants getting voted off the island on Survivor.

Freshman guard Taylor Bigby is the latest to announce that she is entering the transfer portal, per a report from The Oregonian’s James Crepea. She follows former teammates Maddie Scherr, Sydney Parrish, and Kylee Watson out of Eugene as the mass exodus continues.

Bigby was the No. 29 ranked recruit in the nation according to ESPNW and was a two-time Nevada Gatorade State Player of the Year, winning the award following her junior and senior seasons.

But she was slowed by a hand injury in the middle of the year and her place in the rotation suffered because of it. Bigby appeared in just nine games and didn’t see action on the floor after the win over UConn Jan. 17.

Her best game came in the season opener against Idaho State where she scored seven points in 16 minutes.

With Bigby’s departure, along with Parrish, Oregon head coach Kelly Graves will be looking for a shooting guard or two in the portal. But he can sleep a little better at night in knowing he does bring in one of the top recruiting classes in the country with five-stars Chance Gray (Hamilton, Ohio) and Grace VanSlooten (Ottawa, Ohio) along with four-star prospects Jennah Isai (Surprise, Ari.) and Kennedy Basham (Phoenix).

Oregon’s star point guard Te-Hina Paopao also announced over the past week that she will be staying with the Ducks for the 2022 season.

Contact/Follow us @Ducks_Wire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinion.

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

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Oregon women’s basketball drops out of the Top 25

The Oregon women’s basketball team drops out of the AP Top 25 as the regular season comes to a close.

It’s been quite a while, but there won’t be a number besides Oregon women’s basketball.

The Ducks dropped out of the final Associated Press Top 25 poll of the regular season this week with its loss at Colorado in double overtime. Oregon finished the season 19-10 and 11-6 in conference action.

In some mock brackets, the Ducks have a No. 4 seed in a region which means they would host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. Whether those are accurate remains to be seen.

Oregon has every chance to make hosting the Big Dance a reality if they can make some noise in Las Vegas in the Pac-12 tournament. They are the No. 2 seed for the conference tourney have earned a first-round bye.

The Ducks are scheduled to face either UCLA or USC in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 3. Tip-off will be at 6 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.

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Sabrina Ionescu among 17 players selected for Team USA Roster

Former Oregon Ducks legend Sabrina Ionescu was among the 17 players selected for the USA Women’s Basketball training camp roster.

The USA Women’s Basketball training camp roster was revealed by the USA Basketball Twitter account on Thursday morning, and former Oregon Ducks legend Sabrina Ionescu was among the 17 players listed.

Ionescu is joined by a handful of Pacific Northwest icons, including Breanna Stewart and Jewell Lloyd (Seattle Storm) and Kelsey Plum (University of Washington).

Notably absent is Sue Bird, the 40-year-old WNBA legend who has been a part of Team USA many times in the past. Her absence, along with the presence of young players – like Ionescu – signals the end of an era for international women’s hoops, and the reigning of a new group of young, superstar talent.

Ionescu is a perfect player to be a part of ushering in that new era, not just for her extreme talent on the basketball court but her outgoing personality and energy, which makes her must-watch basketball when she’s on the court.

Ionescu only played in three games as a rookie in 2020, but averaged 11.7 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.7 rebounds in 30 games (26 starts) for New York in the 2021 season.

Ionescu will head to DC to train ahead of the FIBA Women’s World Cup qualifiers in February.

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Pair of 5-star Oregon signees, Chance Gray and Grace Vanslooten, named to McDonald’s All-American team

Add both Chance Gray and Grace Vanslooten to the list of McDonald’s All-Americans who have signed with the Oregon Ducks. So much talent coming in the 2022 class.

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Both the men’s and women’s McDonald’s All-American teams were announced on Tuesday afternoon, and a number of future Oregon Ducks were included.

Namely, both Chance Gray and Grace Vanslooten were named to the All-American team. Gray and Vanslooten both committed to Kelly Graves and the Ducks midway through last year, and then made it official by signing with the Ducks late in the fall.

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Gray is a 5-foot-9 guard from Lakota West High School who picked Oregon over the likes of Ohio State, Louisville, UCLA, and Arizona. She is rated by ESPN as the No. 2 point guard in the country.

Vanslooten comes from IMG Academy and is the No. 13 prospect in the 2022 class. She is a five-star prospect who stands 6-foot-3 and is the 4th-ranked forward in the nation. She chose the Ducks over schools like Gonzaga, LSU, Arizona, Baylor, Duke, and UCLA.

The Ducks also learned on Tuesday that Kel’el Ware, a 7-foot center, was named to the men’s McDonald’s All-American team as well.

The 2022 McDonald’s All-American game will take place on March 29 in Wintrsut Arena.

Contact/Follow us @Ducks_Wire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinion.

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. 

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Oregon women’s basketball game with Utah rescheduled

The Oregon women’s basketball team will meet Utah for a morning tip-off on January 26th, a game originally scheduled for New Year’s Eve.

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With all of the recent cancellations, it’s nice to have a game back on the schedule.

The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball game with Utah that was originally scheduled for Dec. 31 is back on the docket for Jan. 26. The two teams will meet up inside Matthew Knight Arena for an 11 a.m. tip-off on the Pac-12 Network.

Utah is currently 9-4 overall and has played just one conference game, an 83-73 loss to Stanford. The pandemic has created havoc with the Utes scheduled as they have played just two games in the past month.

Meanwhile, the Ducks are playing with a full roster and it has shown with recent upsets over No. 7 Arizona and No. 9 UConn. Oregon will be in action up in Washington Jan. 21 against the Huskies and a Jan. 23 date with Washington State.

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Everything we know following Oregon’s 80-68 loss to No. 2 Stanford

Oregon didn’t have an answer for Stanford’s Lexie Hull, who burned the Ducks for a career-high 33 points on seven threes.

It all comes down to making shots and tonight, No. 2 Stanford found and made nearly every shot it wanted while Oregon struggled to find open shooters.

The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team made a couple of small runs at the Cardinal, but Stanford eventually came out with an 80-68 win over Oregon. It was the Ducks’ first conference loss on the season.

Oregon didn’t have an answer for Lexie Hull, who lit up the Ducks for a career-high 33 points on 7-of-10 shooting from three-point range.

Nyara Sabally, Endyia Rogers and Te-Hina Paopao did their best to keep their team in it, and in the fourth quarter, Oregon had a couple of chances to cut the Stanford lead to five or even four, but it wasn’t to be.